Owls Fall in Second Round of American Tournament

Thursday, March 12

Birmingham, Ala.

9 p.m. ET

Florida Atlantic

18-15,9-9American

No. 6 North Texas

19-13,9-9American

Fla. Atlantic

North Texas

Photo by: Jack Williams

3/13/2026 1:53:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Ben Paul

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Florida Atlantic's men's basketball team, seeded No. 7 in the American Conference Championship, was eliminated in the second round of the tournament by No. 6 North Texas, falling 74-70 on Thursday night.

The Owls (18-15) held the Mean Green (19-13) to under 40% shooting in one of their strongest defensive performances against a conference opponent. Sophomore guard Isaiah Elohim led the way offensively with 20 points as a late comeback attempt came up short.

FIRST HALF
Josiah Parker, the American Freshman of the Year, scored FAU's first five points to spark an early 7-3 lead. He made his first four shot attempts on the way to a nine-point first half.

The Owls' defense was firm, holding the Mean Green without a field goal for a stretch of seven minutes and to just 33% shooting throughout the period, with only one player recording multiple makes from the field. Despite Florida Atlantic outshooting North Texas, the Owls fell behind on free throws, conceding 15 on 22 attempts.

An 8-0 Mean Green run put them in position for a strong halftime lead, but the Owls answered in the final two minutes with free throws by Elohim and a layup from junior guard Kanaan Carlyle to only trail 34-30 at halftime.

SECOND HALF
The script flipped in the final period with the Owls heading to the charity stripe 24 times, converting 18 of their attempts.

Down by 10 with eight minutes remaining, FAU trimmed the deficit to three in just two minutes off a 9-2 run with an acrobatic three-point play by redshirt junior guard Niccolo Moretti and three free throws from Elohim.

North Texas responded to build the lead back up to eight, but the Owls did not go down without a fight in the final minute, quickly scoring three times in a row on the offensive end on their final possessions.

PRESS CONFERENCE

STATS & NOTES

Elohim's 20 points included a career-high of eight made free throws. It marked his third 20+ point performance of the season, all coming against American opponents.
Amkou finished with 13 points. Two of his top three scoring performances this season came against the Mean Green.
Through two games in the tournament, Moretti scored 28 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field.
All nine Owls who saw playing time recorded multiple rebounds. Elohim led the team with six.

FOLLOW THE OWLS
To stay up to date on all things FAU men's basketball, follow the Owls on social media @FAUMBB.

Florida Atlantic's 2025-26 season is sponsored by Phil Smith Kia/Phil Smith Acura.